Vision - January/February 2009 - (Page 39) computer, it’s possible to send an address and phone number to important buzzword right now in the realm of vehicle electronics [and] we are working on new technologies that will come out the vehicle’s navigation system remotely, Dance notes. soon that will allow you to take your mobile lifestyle, bring it into The send-to-car function is not unique. GM vehicles equipped the car, then customize the features either from home, from the with OnStar and Mercedes-Benz vehicles offer the same but BMW Internet browser or from within the car and make the driving is the first company to link in-vehicle Internet access to the navigaexperience targeted to you.” tion system, he says. Although most car buyers today are not asking for wide open Meanwhile, Chrysler last September launched in-vehicle wireless Internet connectivity for devices that Internet browsing in their vehicles, Magare brought into the car, such as a laptop ney notes, “It’s not a question of if, it’s “Everything is computer, an iPod Touch and a portable just a question of when. Internet in the about connectivity videogame player. The UConnect Web car is coming, but will take a significant and choice.” application, such as local search built dealer-installed option for Chrysler, Dodge Jonathan B. Spira, chief and Jeep vehicles integrates a Wi-Fi router into navigation, to stimulate the demand. analyst at Basex Inc. for a hotspot in the car, both EVDO and Drivers right now have limited interest in 1xRTT (2.5G and 3G cell phone) connecundefined browsing in the car.” tivity for an outside link to the Internet, and requires an online Moreover, Magney adds, because people are averse to paying subservice subscription ($383 per year) from Autonet Mobile, based scription fees, it is likely that this sort of in-vehicle Internet access in San Francisco. But UConnect Web is not integrated into the will be financially supported by advertising or sponsored content, like vehicle’s navigation system. “I don’t think you have to have much Google searches on a PC are supported by ads or sponsored links. of an imagination to guess where this will be going,” says Martin Dominique Bonte, an analyst with ABI Research in Brussels, Yagley, director of connectivity and infotainment at Chrysler LLC Belgium, agrees with this prediction, and forecasts that ad-supin Auburn Hills, Mich. ported Internet-connected navigation systems could be available “Customers in the future will expect a connected user experiwithin three years. He also is forecasting the proliferation of locaence in their vehicles as they have at home,” says Sascha Simon, tion-based social networking applied to navigation systems—an manager for advanced product planning at Mercedes-Benz USA example of which is visible in Nissan’s CarWings connected naviin Montvale, NJ. gation system in Japan. With CarWings, a driver can monitor his Mercedes-Benz, too, will roll out in-vehicle Internet access but own vehicle’s fuel consumption and compare it to the average fuel “better and greater than all the competitors,” Simon pledges. The consumption of another individual or a group of people. But, “the real impact of the Internet in the automobile is when the Mercedes feature will be more open, with better functionality and a better interface than BMW’s feature, he says. “Seamless integracar downloads music that matches your preferences, updates itself to tion is the key word. We truly believe that convergence is the most find the cheapest fuel automatically, receives destination information It has been possible for years to play music from an iPod in a car. Last August, Audi of America became the first automaker to let you play a car in an iPod. To help launch its all-new A4 sedan, the Herndon, VA—based automaker released the “Audi A4 Challenge,” a driving game for the iPhone and iPod Touch that also was the first application from an automaker in Apple’s then-new iTunes App Store. The free application uses the device’s built-in motion sensor to steer an on-screen rendering of the car through a series of progressively challenging courses. It was an attempt to tie the Audi brand to the iPhone, to appeal to a customer base that is common to both customers, says Marcel Aslund, marketing manager for online, customer relationship management (CRM) and collateral. Compared to other automakers’ customers, Aslund says, Audi buyers already are more tech savvy, consume more “new media” and are more likely to use the Internet to research their new vehicle purchases. So, the company decided a videogame application for the iPhone would be a good way to engage these consumers, and also would be different from the company’s earlier marketing to iPod users. Since 2006, Audi has released through Apple’s iTunes Store a steady stream of promotional and instructional videos—such as a www.ce.org iCar demonstration of Audi’s navigation system—that can be played on an iPod. The driving game is a logical successor to this “vodcast” strategy, and so far it has been very successful, Aslund says. Within the first two weeks after its release the game vaulted to the number two spot in Apple’s Top 10 list of free iPhone applications, and by November the number of downloads exceeded one million, notes Scott Mellin, CEO of Factory Design Labs, the Denver, CO, based interactive marketing agency that developed the game and the vodcasts for Audi. To be sure, Audi is not the first automaker to promote a new car with a videogame release. In 2005, for example, Volvo Cars of North America released a videogame that it had developed for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console. That game coincided with the introduction of the all-new S40 sedan as well as a TV advertisement for the car that resembled a scene in a videogame. But unlike Audi’s intention with its iPhone game to appeal to the same type of customers the automaker already has, Volvo’s purpose was to present the Volvo brand to a younger consumer than had traditionally bought its vehicles, says James Hope, a Volvo spokesman. By using the iTunes App Store to connect a brand to the customer, Mellin says, “We’re onto not only a trend but a movement.” January/February 2009 39
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